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Championship Watch

1961 Standings

Phil Hill won the 1961 Drivers' Championship for Ferrari. Final 1961 standings — every driver and constructor ranked by points and wins.

Driver Leader
Phil Hill
34 pts · Ferrari
Title Gap
1 pts
Phil Hill over Wolfgang von Trips
Constructors
Ferrari
45 pts · gap 10
Most Wins
2
Phil Hill
Control Tower
Drivers Championship
Season
1961 Season Report

Phil Hill won the 1961 Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship driving for Ferrari, finishing on 34 points, 1 clear of Wolfgang von Trips. Hill won 2 races that season.

Ferrari took the Constructors' Championship with 45 points, 10 ahead of Lotus-Climax.

5 different drivers won a Grand Prix, and 17 drivers scored championship points.

Championships in this era were decided on a "best results" basis — drivers counted only their highest-scoring finishes towards the title, so season totals can differ from the sum of every race result. Dropped scores were abolished from 1991.

Standings compiled from the Ergast/Jolpica Formula 1 results archive. Spotted an error? Tell us.

Live Table

1961 Driver Order

Pos
Driver
Form
Points
Wins
P1
Phil Hill
Ferrari
Championship Pace100%
Championship Leader
34
Points
2
Wins
P2
Wolfgang von Trips
Ferrari
Championship Pace97%
1 pts off the lead.
33
Points
2
Wins
P3
Stirling Moss
Lotus-Climax
Championship Pace62%
13 pts off the lead.
21
Points
2
Wins
P4
Dan Gurney
Porsche
Championship Pace62%
13 pts off the lead.
21
Points
0
Wins
P5
Richie Ginther
Ferrari
Championship Pace47%
18 pts off the lead.
16
Points
0
Wins
P6
Innes Ireland
Lotus-Climax
Championship Pace35%
22 pts off the lead.
12
Points
1
Wins
P7
Jim Clark
Lotus-Climax
Championship Pace32%
23 pts off the lead.
11
Points
0
Wins
P8
Bruce McLaren
Cooper-Climax
Championship Pace32%
23 pts off the lead.
11
Points
0
Wins
P9
Giancarlo Baghetti
Ferrari
Championship Pace26%
25 pts off the lead.
9
Points
1
Wins
P10
Tony Brooks
BRM
Championship Pace18%
28 pts off the lead.
6
Points
0
Wins
P11
Jack Brabham
Cooper-Climax
Championship Pace12%
30 pts off the lead.
4
Points
0
Wins
P12
John Surtees
Cooper-Climax
Championship Pace12%
30 pts off the lead.
4
Points
0
Wins
P13
Jackie Lewis
Cooper-Climax
Championship Pace9%
31 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P14
Olivier Gendebien
Emeryson
Championship Pace9%
31 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P15
Jo Bonnier
Porsche
Championship Pace9%
31 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P16
Graham Hill
BRM
Championship Pace9%
31 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P17
Roy Salvadori
Cooper-Climax
Championship Pace6%
32 pts off the lead.
2
Points
0
Wins
P18
Maurice Trintignant
Cooper-Maserati
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P19
Carel Godin de Beaufort
Porsche
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P20
Lorenzo Bandini
Cooper-Maserati
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P21
Cliff Allison
Lotus-Climax
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P22
Roger Penske
Cooper-Climax
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P23
Hans Herrmann
Porsche
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P24
Peter Ryan
Lotus-Climax
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P25
Masten Gregory
Cooper-Climax
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P26
Henry Taylor
Lotus-Climax
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P27
Tim Parnell
Lotus-Climax
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P28
Hap Sharp
Cooper-Climax
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P29
Tony Maggs
Lotus-Climax
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P30
Michael May
Lotus-Climax
Championship Pace0%
34 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
About the 1961 championships · How F1 points work

Phil Hill leads the 1961 Drivers Championship with 34 points, holding a 1-point advantage over Wolfgang von Trips (Ferrari). A gap of fewer than 25 points — one race win — means the title race remains mathematically open every single weekend.

In the 1961 Constructors Championship, Ferrari leads with 45 points — a 10-point margin over Lotus-Climax. The Constructors title is decided by the combined points haul of a team's two drivers from every race, making car reliability, pit stop execution, and strategic pairing as important as raw pace.

The current FIA points system awards points to the top ten finishers in every Grand Prix: 25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1. An additional point goes to the driver who sets the fastest lap of the race, provided they finish inside the top ten. Sprint events — held on Saturday at select rounds — offer a separate points structure: 8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for the top eight finishers, counting toward both championships independently of the main race result.

A driver must hold an FIA Super Licence and score at least one championship point to register on the standings. DNFs score zero, but a classified finish — completing at least 90% of the race distance — earns the driver’s finishing position even without a points reward.